World of Warcraft lost another 300,000 Subscribers last quarter, Patch 4.3 this year
Activision Blizzard latest earning call revealed that World of Warcraft lost another 300,000 subscribers last quarter, following the loss of 600k subscribers announced last quarter.

In this conference call we also learned that:

The next patch will include "major raid and dungeon content", we can most likely expect a raid and a 5-man from Patch 4.3

Patch 4.3 will be the "largest content update since Cataclysm"

It will be released later this year, which means that we can probably expect a PTR soon.

It's also worth noting that despite the loss of players, Mike Morhaime pointed out that the new trial system resulted in an increase in new account creations. For more details on the earning call, go check the coverage on sites such as Venturebeat or Gamasutra.

BlizzCon 2011 Virtual Ticket Now On Sale
The Blizzcon virtual ticket is now available, it seems that some people already got their Murkablo Companion Pet by buying the ticket early. (See this forum thread. However, this is most likely a bug and pets might be removed very soon.

Want to experience the panel discussions, tournaments, game-related announcements, and all the excitement of BlizzCon 2011 from the comfort of your own home? Then be sure to check out the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket!

The BlizzCon 2011 Virtual Ticket is now available for purchase around the world for $39.99 USD (pricing may vary by region). Virtual Ticket coverage will be available as a multi-channel Internet stream and also via Pay Per View on DIRECTV in the United States, granting viewers a front-row seat to all of the action on the show floor including exclusive interviews, demos, and more!

New DIRECTV subscribers in the United States who sign up for DIRECTV service between now and September 25 through www.directv.com/blizzcon will receive this year's BlizzCon Virtual Ticket coverage for free. Existing DIRECTV customers will be able to purchase the event on DIRECTV Pay Per View for $39.99 beginning Monday, October 10. Visit www.directv.com/blizzcon for more info.

DIRECTV customers who order the Pay Per View event through DIRECTV will receive the multi-channel Internet stream at no extra charge, and those who order the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket will also receive this year’s to-be-announced BlizzCon-exclusive World of Warcraft and StarCraft II in-game items.

Don't miss out! To learn more about the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, head on over to our official BlizzCon 2011 Live Stream page or read the FAQ.

Cenarion Hatchling Raises More Than $1.9 Million for Japan Earthquake Relief

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of World of Warcraft players around the world who purchased the Cenarion Hatchling pet, we’ve raised a total of more than $1.9 million USD to support the ongoing earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan. In May, we announced that for every Cenarion Hatchling purchased by July 31, 2011, 100% of the $10 USD adoption fee would be going to assist victims of this disaster -- and the community responded by opening up their hearts and wallets wide. Thanks again for your support and for helping to make an impact on the lives of those affected by these events.

The beta test approaches! We’ve just updated our System Check program and would like everyone to update their Battle.net Beta Profile information by running the new one. You should do this regardless of whether there have been hardware changes made to your system.

You can run the new System Check by visiting the Beta Profile settings of your Battle.net account:

I don’t have a Beta Profile
If you haven’t yet created a Beta Profile on your Battle.net account you’ll be presented with two download options, PC and Mac, for our System Check program. Running the program will present you with the Beta Test Opt-In Agreement, and once you agree to that it will immediately query basic computer specification information such as your type of video card, processor, and RAM. Clicking the Send button will then upload the shown information to your account.

On your Beta Profile page, you’ll want to ensure you at least have “Diablo Universe” checked for future testing, if not StarCraft and Warcraft as well. That’s it! You’re now eligible for future beta test opportunities.

I have a Beta Profile
If you’ve previously uploaded your system info you should use the links to download the new System Check program for PC or Mac and update your system info. Run the program, read through the Beta Test Opt-In Agreement that appears, and once you agree to that the program will immediately query your basic computer specification information. Click Send and the program will automatically update your profile with your system specifications. You’ll remain opted in for whichever beta tests you’ve previously selected, and you can change these selections on your Beta Profile page at any time.

Having current system specifications and checking the franchise boxes to express interest in beta testing our future products does not guarantee your entry into the beta test. We will grant a very limited number of people entry from the entire pool of those interested, based on their system specifications and other factors. While having an official Battle.net Beta Profile is one way to potentially get in, we’ll have information on other ways to increase your chances as we draw closer to the beta test.

Blue Posts

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Lack of Blue Posts / "Where are the Blues?"
The whole team is here today. We're actively reading the forums whenever we can while working on other tasks. :)(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Repair costs too expensive?
Repair costs have always scaled with item level. If anything, I'd say this game has a burden of too much gold out in the economy, rather than too little. 4 deaths in 1 5-player Heroic dungeon run is well above what you should expect as an average, and 100 gold is pretty easy to come by at level 85. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

New Warcraft Fan Art
The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with five new pieces of fan artwork set within the Warcraft universe.

"The Raid" Livestream on August 6th @ 6:00PM PSTBlue Loon Films, the studio behind the upcoming World of Warcraft documentary, The Raid, has announced that the live stream of their film will take place on August 6th.

The Raid follows a guild over the course of a few months and features a host of content including in-game and at-home interviews with the players.

One thing that concerns me is, Blizzard seemed to randomly bring out the RAF changes a few weeks ago... Seems like that was a ploy to get people creating more accounts and artificially inflate the "subs" total...

RAF was horribly out of date, especially after they started to include BC content into the base subscription.

No wonder WoW is losing subscribers. Challenge is gone from game, the only challenge now is heroic raids, but that's a small part of game. MMO part is gone from game, it is now a single player game. People sit in cities, press a button to join instance with 4 NPCs (players from other realms they'll never see again), facerolling their way to end goal and spewing abuse (he'll never see those 4 players again, so why behave like a decent human?) as they go. It is still the best game out there, but its crap compared to what it used to be and what it could be. I wish it would improve.

why even post here? people quits/coming back to the game every day! wow is still 1# online game in the world, and it will be for atleast 1 year more! d3 will take alot of players, but d3 isnt the same game as wow, it isnt the same feeling. wow will still have 7+´millions players after d3 and swtor!

Next mmo game fromblizzard will kill wow.. now please stfu! if you fucking enjoy the game, then fucking play it and stop QQ

Gotta love the elitist pretension on these forums. If you don't love WoW and swear service to the masters of the Warcraft Universe, you can gtfo and they're better off without you. The game was better during LK, and much better during BC, and people who say the game started going downhill during the middle of BC are the worst of the crowd. WoW was dying. Badge gear and loosening attunement requirements for the last tier saved it. Most of you won't remember this but BC was launched with 2 full tiers and 1 1/2 tier intact and recieved the second half of Tier 6 in 4 months. 4 Months, 3 complete tiers. Blizzard will never do this again because they're so bogged down by the weight of their own bureaucratic bulk and the fact that they can put out two horribly mangled half tiers and you'll still kiss their rears and call it gold.

Rome isn't burning. It's burnt.

WoW isn't dying. It's dead.

And if you can't smell the smoldering cinders anymore, it's because you've been inhaling for far too long.

the five pieces that compose the tier set still leaves two trinkets, the weapon slot, neck, rings, wrists, back, and feet. There's many, many slots left to fill that don't involve tier; also, as anyone will tell you, a tier set piece is slightly worse than a similar item of that ilevel, since the set bonus is incorporated into its stat weight. So someone wearing 5 pieces of tier from a dungeon would be better off with at least one of them being swapped out for a raid drop.

Finally, I don't need 'the best raid gear' - I never said "HEROIC RAID TIER". I said Tier Set. that's it.

And why? Because it's my goal in the game to collect an armor set. Humor me, what set is there for a casual to complete? You say tier 11? I tell you NOPE, blizzard left the token requirements on, aka Nef or cho. I do not raid; I do not enjoy raids. in WotLK, I could, slowly but surely, obtain the tier set over a long period of time. by the time I was celebrating my last tier piece, the raiders were halfway through heroic modes and had not only better loot in EVERY OTHER SLOT, but they had the same tier suit I did, with some pieces heroic level.

That was what I played for. Each expansion, I looked forward to collecting my tier set. That was what motivated me to play. Locking two pieces? the ONLY TWO PIECES with unique polygons? Yeah, blizz can go fuck off until they fix this. If you want your unique raid loot, go get your Sulfuras, the extinguished hand, or some other awesome drop loot. If you want me to pay for your raids each expansion (admit it, raids get the most budget put into them) then you've got to give me something to work for.

And "why get better gear" WHY PLAY? Wow is an RPG at heart - the game is all about increasing numbers to increase performance so you can increase other numbers. The game only gets easier with better loot. But more to the point; please direct me to the DUNGEON SET I can collect as a dungeon grinder?

WHATS THAT? THERE ISN'T A DUNGEON SET? Gee imagine that. They could put in a dungeon set for people like me to work for. instead they give us hand me down raider gear with half the set locked away behind raid end bosses.

First time I've seen someone else post this arguement - and I'm in total agreement with every word. I'm sick of getting overlooked at each 'expansion'. I pay the same dam fee as everyone else, but my money is going towards enhancing someone else's demands. Don't expect it to change anytime soon - roll on Old Republic.

Meh, the population was like what, 5-6 million when I started playing and the game was still awesome back then. Gotta burn off some of the rot if you want the game to prosper. With a too-large subscriber base, content design seems to become a machine designed to please the masses rather than a labor of love.

Meh, the population was like what, 5-6 million when I started playing and the game was still awesome back then. Gotta burn off some of the rot if you want the game to prosper. With a too-large subscriber base, content design seems to become a machine designed to please the masses rather than a labor of love.

The content design of the latest expansion seems solely to service a small group of well-connected raiders. Everyone else gets screwed.

Wait wait wait, I got one for you. Let's totally rebalance PvP 1/2 way through the season. Are they completely mental?

i like Wow, i'd like to find a reason to play it when I'm bored .... I just can't.
Often I'm tempted to resub, having those beautiful images in my head with my character happilly killing monsters, showing off my skills to my friends in dungeons, practicing to become strong, etc etc... but then I remember what it is really like: sickening repeating dailies, retarded community that takes the fun out of anything done in groups, endless grinding.... and most of all, no ingame clue/help/tutorial/tool whatsoever about what you would actually need to do to practice your skills.

I play games to relax, I'm not against making efforts to practice and get better, but it needs to be the right kind of effort. That is knowing what to do to become better with a game that gives you the tools to do so, and not having to browse countless website, finding excel sheets, strats, cookie cutter builds etc for hours before starting to have an idea about what to do. That's not only a problem for noobs, but everytime you're off for a few week or after a rebalance patch.

I'll go ahead and throw in one last reply to all the people telling me to "suck it up and raid if you want your tier gear" No. I'd rather unsub than be forced to do things I don't enjoy. That sub money can go to another game like League of Legends or something else. I'll say it again, clearer this time: I will not be forced by a GAME that required a MONTHLY FEE to do something I DO NOT FIND FUN to enjoy said game. Its a waste of money. And its funny, because you can argue your "tier should be raiders only derp derp" point on the forums all you want. I've spoken with my wallet. So have nearly a million others. Guess what blizzard is going to listen to? I'll give you a hint: It isn't the people on the forums, its the people who stopped paying. "YOU SHOULD HAVE TO WORK FOR IT YOU ENTITLED BLAH BLAH BLAH RAGE" Yes. I should. I had to work for my tier 9/10 in WotLK. It took me three months of grinding heroics to finish my sets. That's work. Sorry if you don't agree, but it is. That system worked, that system kept me playing. I do not give two fucks if you think I'm acting entitled. I'm a paying customer. Blizzard can either cater to me, and get my subscription fee, or they can ignore me, and i'll spend my money elsewhere. And no, this HAS worked in the past, it was called WotLK. I subbed through most of WotLK from the end of ulduar on. The system for tier worked from ToC onward - I had a gear set to obtain. I had a goal I could reach. This continued through ICC. If you wanted your vanity gear, you got it doing 25m raids, getting tokens, and what not.

May the door hit you on the way out. Believe it or not, your $15 isn't more important than anyone else's.

Gotta love the elitist pretension on these forums. If you don't love WoW and swear service to the masters of the Warcraft Universe, you can gtfo and they're better off without you. The game was better during LK, and much better during BC, and people who say the game started going downhill during the middle of BC are the worst of the crowd. WoW was dying. Badge gear and loosening attunement requirements for the last tier saved it. Most of you won't remember this but BC was launched with 2 full tiers and 1 1/2 tier intact and recieved the second half of Tier 6 in 4 months. 4 Months, 3 complete tiers. Blizzard will never do this again because they're so bogged down by the weight of their own bureaucratic bulk and the fact that they can put out two horribly mangled half tiers and you'll still kiss their rears and call it gold.

Rome isn't burning. It's burnt.

WoW isn't dying. It's dead.

And if you can't smell the smoldering cinders anymore, it's because you've been inhaling for far too long.

As far as i can see Rome is still standing and has a population of 2.7 million residents. Its also the capital of Italy.

What i dont understand is how can you call a game with 10 million + gamers dead? I mean if you were talking about Guild Wars, AoC or WAR then yeah but WoW?

Fewer people playing during the summer? Who'd have thought. Its the same for every single game. I think such a small dip goes to show how well the game is holding up. Most games have ups and downs, WoW is no exception.

Well well. someones acting all high and mighty. Acting like his Sh*t dont stink.

I am with the crowd of people who are against a lot of WotLK (except for uld era) and Cata. Not for nostalgic reasons either I can explain many ways that have nothing to do with nostalgia. I am glad to see the drop in subs, it usually means a message, cause most people don't quit WoW because of its 50 cents a day cost, people leave it on because it really is such a measly amount for entertainment you electricity bill to run your comp, play games, and normal routines around gaming and play the game month to month is probably higher, than the sub (at the very least close).

But I find this very snobby, IQ, saying you got a high IQ I wouldn't mind so much, but bringing income into it....

Well lets just say this, there are a lot of dumbasses with high income, its called luck... or fortune. Plenty of educated, smart people who aren't making in shitloads of money, being smart or even wise doesn't help, its a combination of luck and highly prioritizing being a rich snobby dude. Many people may want money but not a good amount.

Also IQ ain't shit if you can never put it to good use, a dumb philosopher is better for the world than a smart, fool.

Let me get this straight. Trial system boosted the number if new subscriptions created and WoW still lost another 300k subscribers ? Does that mean that the actual loss may have been considerably higher ? I myself am subscribed but I cannot force myself to play ... for me right now it's about waiting for SWTOR and GW2 and Tera and D3 and ME3 and Skyrim. Once they come, it will be then that WoW will start to really lose subscribers. Unless Blizz goes out of it's way to do something that will make sence of WoW progression and PvP again.

As far as i can see Rome is still standing and has a population of 2.7 million residents. Its also the capital of Italy.

What i dont understand is how can you call a game with 10 million + gamers dead? I mean if you were talking about Guild Wars, AoC or WAR then yeah but WoW?

Since when does volume have anything to do with quality? 10 million people standing in strip mine doesn't change the fact that THEY'RE STANDING IN A STRIP MINE.

And it isn't 10 million gamers. Over 50% of asian players have multiple accounts. Maximum estimates put the number of worldwide players at under 8 million. At least know what you're talking about before you interject your foot into your mouth.

The content design of the latest expansion seems solely to service a small group of well-connected raiders. Everyone else gets screwed.

Wait wait wait, I got one for you. Let's totally rebalance PvP 1/2 way through the season. Are they completely mental?

I don't know much about PvP these days, but all I've been hearing recently is that Firelands normal modes are too easy. Pretty much anyone can faceroll their way through all of T11 and the first FL bosses right now. T11 was a bit tough at the onset but after the fixes for 10man came in it was no more difficult than Karazhan when it was still current content, perhaps even easier.

Fewer people playing during the summer? Who'd have thought. Its the same for every single game. I think such a small dip goes to show how well the game is holding up. Most games have ups and downs, WoW is no exception.

Show me a single press release in the past where they announced they lost a single player over any term of play until Cataclysm launched. You won't find it, because they never announced it. It's because year to year since 2008 growth was stagnant. They're forecasting losses this year worldwide, just like they've been losing plays in the US/EU since then, only new subs aren't enough to cover the turn over anymore. It isn't the simple causality you view it as.